Abstract

The float-polishing technique has been studied to determine its suitability for producing supersmooth surfaces on optical materials, yielding a roughness of <2 Å rms. An attempt was made to polish six different materials including fused quartz, Zerodur, and sapphire. The low surface roughness was achieved on fused quartz, Zerodur, and Corning experimental glass-ceramic materials, and a surface roughness of <1 Å rms was obtained on O-cut single-crystal sapphire. Presumably, similar surface finishes can also be obtained on Cer-Vit and ULE quartz, which could not be polished satisfactorily in this set of experiments because of a mismatch between sample mounting and machine configuration.

© 1987 Optical Society of America

Float-polishing process and analysis of float-polished quartz

S. F. Soares, D. R. Baselt, J. P. Black, K. C. Jungling, and W. K. Stowell
Appl. Opt. 33(1) 89-95 (1994)

Polishing study using Teflon and pitch laps to produce flat and supersmooth surfaces

Achim J. Leistner, Eric G. Thwaite, Frank Lesha, and Jean M. Bennett
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Chemical–mechanical polishing of low-scatter optical surfaces

R. B. Mcintosh and R. A. Paquin
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Fluid jet polishing of optical surfaces

Oliver W. Fähnle, Hedser van Brug, and Hans J. Frankena
Appl. Opt. 37(28) 6771-6773 (1998)

Surface figure changes due to thermal cycling hysteresis

S. F. Jacobs, S. C. Johnston, J. M. Sasian, M. Watson, J. D. Targove, and D. Bass
Appl. Opt. 26(20) 4438-4442 (1987)